What the Facebook are they doing?

Do you remember life before cell phones, sliced bread and a Big Mac Burger? Maybe you do but in 2013 we find it hard to imagine just what we did, how we communicated and shared stories and connected families across the world without Facebook. Yet it has only been around since 2004.

Since 2004 Facebook has had around eight major upgrades/facelifts and each time there has been an absolute outcry from the freeloading masses such as myself. I have never paid a single cent towards the Facebook infrastructure, or helped to generate a really sizeable revenue stream for them to not only survive but develop and grow. I have done nothing but pretty much whinge each time they changed something. And this is my right because I have decided to grace their servers with my material for my own selfish and inquisitive motives.

The reality is that Facebook (under ever increasing threat from various pretenders to the social media throne) is a moving target; things which may be minor adjustments are changing quite regularly. One day you had an event image, the next day it is an event cover image and the thumbnail is cut out of the middle to resemble some meaningless picture.

Our choice is simple, either we embrace these changes and use them to our advantage, or we simply squander away time and energy bitching about it all. Have you ever tried sending and email to Facebook or giving them a call, well if not do not bother because they will not reply and certainly not answer a call. It is their playground, their rules and if you do not like to you are free to go and find another sandbox elsewhere.

I will be honest it is not easy keeping track of what Facebook are doing or what the latest sizes for the various images are. It helps to therefore follow some people in the know who will keep you up to speed on what is happening. I am forever scanning the various sources for any significant changes and updates and post them on my Social Media Solutions Facebook Page or you should follow the Queen of Facebook Mari Smith who earns a living just out of Facebook alone as an example. Another really good person to follow, not only to discover updates in the social media world or to win great prizes, but also around excellent social media training courses and talks is Charlotte Kemp from Niche Training and Development.

On occasion some incredible sites pop up such as https://www.facebook.com/PagesSizesDimensions which is the latest site that has up to date cheat sheet info for each and every image in Facebook. Not only that but it has set them up in an actual Facebook Page so you can see how they render in reality.

So next time you are all miffed with Facebook, just think how you could turn the Timeline of your Page into an incredible visual and vibrant historical reference of your business demonstrating not only your pedigree but you longevity and survivability. Here is an opportunity to showcase your milestones and successes to demonstrate to potential customers what you are about, where you have come from and what you have achieved, and of course where you are going. It is a place to give the staff ownership, to feel really part of the company to leverage their own personal databases in so many different ways.

So while Facebook may be doing all sorts of things such as throttling the number of people viewing your posts to monetise it all, that does not mean there is not a way to leverage it for free and as with any marketing campaign maybe spending a bit of money by advertising or reaching a few more thousand people might just pay for itself 100 times over if not more.

A systems engineering background together with a creative flair for design, a solid understanding of business principles and an unquenchable desire to explore new online technologies. A career that has already spanned 36+ years and still going strong.